Even though it's satire I fail to care she's being attacked. I hold her to the same standards Dem's try to hold Republicans. It's fair game to attack her over saying stupid stuff.

Are you then holding Grover Norquist accountable for conjuring the image of drowning a thing in a bathtub, with reference to government? Surely there are much less extraordinarily distasteful, violent, and frankly sick metaphors he could have used to make his point.

Or is the sentiment that Republicans police their own members simply empty rhetoric?

Kittens, effigies, or governments, I find the language distasteful and reprehensible.

In my own languaging, I might say, "let's take this out and kill it". If I'm being casually colloquial, it's possible that I might say "that needs to be shot in the head". I can point to first person shooters for desensitizing the imagery of the last statement to the degree that it's used colloquially, much like the imagery of rape.

I'm having difficulty parsing "drown it in a bathtub" back to anything cultural that might explain it away. If I truly imagine drowning something in a bathtub it's quite violent and sick. Sans cultural referent, I have to wonder at the mind that would dream it up as a metaphor for anything.

So, no, I'm not happy. It's disturbing that such rhetoric enters into the parlance of government officials and candidates to office. I don't get the sense that your choice to not vote for Norquist comes from this indiscretion, nor that you even find it an indiscretion, but you're certainly entitled to your opinion and this dead horse seems pretty well beaten.

She was a blogger for dailykos, she knows politics is vicious and mean and personal attacks come from everywhere and now she's playing the victim card to get sympathy. "Oh, I'm a poor 48yo gamer who's being attacked for a hobby." She knows what she's doing. Don't assume she was ignorant that her statements would come back to bite her.

And that is certainly not the most offensive (if even it is) quote Norquist has made.

Quote:

"[Democrats] will only become acceptable once they are comfortable in their minority status. Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they've been fixed, then they are happy and sedate."

"Bipartisanship is another name for date rape."

"Our goal is to inflict pain. It is not good enough to win; it has to be a painful and devastating defeat. We're sending a message here. It is like when the king would take his opponent's head and spike it on a pole for everyone to see."

You'd probably find the allusion to castrating democrats a bit less tasteful? So do I, and as a result I wouldn't vote for him in a primary election when there is a less offensive candidate who shares my limited goverment goals I could choose instead. He's obviously not serious about neutering democrats and was engaging in his own brand of humor and also saying offensive things to drive home a point. Those types of statements probably make him unfit for office (which he doesn't seek). Just as joking about drowning Norquist is a good sign she's unfit IMHO.

Fair enough. We disagree about the use of satire, but we seem relatively equally offended by government officials using this sort of language. I'm glad Norquist has been off my radar; he seems a fairly distasteful person.

Norquist sunk my favorite GOP candidate in the Wisconsin primary too. So I'm no great fan of his. The guy I supported was the one candidate not to sign his Tax Pledge and Norquist hit him pretty hard on it and the other guys used it in their adds to beat on him too.

Radio Transcript

Jerry Bader: "I know there are a lot of things that you want to address, but Iím gonna start with the latest, and that is that Grover Norquist -- and for those who arenít aware -- Grover Norquist and his organization have gone to Republican candidates, conservative candidates, and asked them to sign a no tax increase pledge. There are those on the left who say itís that pledge thatís responsible for the gridlock in Washington. They say itís made Republicans who signed it inflexible, they canít negotiate, they canít moderate, they canít reach across the aisle. The other three men in this race have signed, including the one perceived by many as the moderate, Tommy Thompson. If it was good enough for them, Eric, why isnít it good enough for you?"

Eric Hovde: "Because the problem with the Grover Norquist pledge [is] it locks in high rates and doesnít get rid of corporate welfare. Behind the story with Grover Norquist is heís funded by giant corporations that have created loopholes in our tax system. Iíve ran ads talking about [how] we have the highest corporate tax rate, at 35%, in the world. We are the most uncompetitive country from our tax system. We need to lower the rates, but we also have to get rid of the corporate welfare. How is a small business going to compete if theyíre trying to compete against General Electric, that in some years, GE pays nothing because they can buy off Washington politicians. Or how about Apple Computer? [If] you want to be the next Apple Computer -- small company to go up and compete -- Appleís paying 9%; youíre paying 35%. President Reagan would never sign that pledge because he talked about tax expenditures and corporate welfare. Heís the last one who gave us meaningful tax reform. I believe we need to lower rates, which that pledge does not talk about. My pledge that I went around the state -- two months ago, I was up, actually, at Brown County Taxpayers Association talking about the fact that we need to lower rates and get rid of the crony capitalism and corporate welfare in the system. And these guys just sign off on it, they check a box, and they donít even understand [that] what theyíre doing is locking in special favors for those that have access to Washington politicians."

Jerry Bader: "What do you say to those, though, Eric, who say that 'closing tax loopholesí is liberal code for Ďraising taxes on corporations?í"

Eric Hovde: "Listen, as long as youíre lowering the rates and getting rid of those deductions -- Jerry, let me just give you a few different examples. [Did] you know that you can depreciate a thoroughbred racehorse thatís under two years old in our tax code? Now, who bought off that one? Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street firm that just abused the American public, has 84 offshore corporations, can make billions of dollars and pay nothing in tax. Why should they get away with that when small and medium-sized businesses, which are job creators, are paying at 35%? My belief: you lower the rate from 35% to 25% -- hopefully lower -- and you get rid of all the corporate welfare. Itís very easy to fix. But -- the reason -- the dirty little secret in Washington, D.C. -- and behind Grover Norquist -- and the dirty little secret is that itís giant companies and special interests that want to keep the tax code this way, and politicians want it because thatís how they get their campaign contributions."

Basically Norquist is a tool for the crony capitalist portion of the Republican Party which I oppose with just as much fervor as I oppose the crony capitalist portions of the Democrat party. Eliminate tax loopholes and lower the tax rates for everyone to even the playing field would be a one sentence description of my position. Eric Hovde lost by about 4%. If he wouldn't have gotten such bad press from his position on this I think he would have won.